Main One gets landing rights in Nigeria, Ghana

NIGERIAN Main One Cable Company (MOCC), has gotten the certification of the governments of Nigeria and Ghana to land its undersea cable.

The licenses recently presented to the management of Main One on behalf of the governments of the two countries by the telecommunications regulators in those countries, namely the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA).

Company sources said, the licenses confer on Main One Cable Company the right to land its intercontinental undersea fibre optic cable in Nigeria and Ghana.

Champion Infotel recalled that Main One Cable Company has since begun work on building its undersea fibre optic cable from Portugal to Africa. The first phase of this project spans 6,900 Kilometres and will extend from Portugal to Ghana and Nigeria with an additional 6,000 Kilometres extension to South Africa and Angola in the second phase.

Confirming this, the Chief Executive Officer, Main One Cable Company, Ms. Funke Opeke, said the development represents a major landmark for the continent, as it’s the first time ever that a private sector driven undersea cable network is receiving landing licenses.

According to her, the exciting development, sets the stage for her company to land its undersea fibre optic cable, in both countries, even while negotiations are ongoing with other countries along the coastal route earmarked for the undersea cable.

She stressed that it’s a unique promise that would boost Internet access across the African continent.

“This lies in the huge improvement in bandwidth which we will be driving even while reducing costs phenomenally,” she said.

Opeke disclosed that her firm employed the combination of Dense Wave Multiplexing Technology (DWMT) of 1.28 Terabits per second and two fibre pairs. Main One will deliver far more capacity to the region than any existing or proposed undersea projects even while bringing costs down to about 20 per cent of what is currently obtainable from SAT 3 or satellite service operators.

She noted that the project would provide open access to regional telecom operators and Internet Service Providers (ISP).

Additionally, she explained that Main One would serve as a major boost to Internet access on the continent, even as it would considerably minimize the difficulties of switching traffic between African countries and eliminating the inconveniences.
Opeke underscored the fact that costs of first routing traffic to Europe would be reduced drastically.

“We will also enhance job creation and local content development through skills transfer in ICT and particularly networking technologies,” she said.

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